Monthly Archives: April 2015

We have a single fishing license. And it’s time for a single hunting license. Let’s consider what fishing would be like if the licensing system had developed like the hunting license and permit system. We’d have a license for open water fishing and another license for ice fishing. Hunting licenses and permits are required for […]

The greater Greenville economy has launched a new branding initiative to float its sinking economy. And I was there for the birth. Roger Brooks, an internationally-known community branding expert, presented the Moosehead Lake Region Branding Initiative in an exciting speech to a packed auditorium at the Greenville Consolidated School on Friday. I am certain that […]

A lot of important conservation work is funded by Maine’s business community. Today I’ll tell you about one company’s conservation work: Poland Spring Water, owned by Nestle Waters. Poland Spring was a strong supporter of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine during my tenure there, and has continued to support my writing as a sponsor of […]

Lots of Mainers are very worried about Lyme disease. And it’s my hope that some of them will show up next Thursday, April 16, at 1 pm, at a legislative hearing by the Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Committee in Room 214 of the Cross Office Building (next to the Capitol), to support and testify in […]

Question: What is allowed in 46 other states, but never in Maine? Answer: Hunting on Sunday. Thirty nine states allow it in all hunting seasons, another 7 allow it in some seasons and circumstances, and only four, including Maine, prohibit Sunday hunting in all seasons. Never on Sunday We’ll never hunt on Sundays in […]

It’s a great question. Is it best to leave wildlife management up to the professionals at Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, or continue to let the people have a say through ballot initiatives? Despite a focus on the 2014 bear referendum, and the recent promise from the Humane Society of the United States […]

Winning support for a bill at the Maine legislature is a lot like turkey hunting. You’ve got to call them in, convince them you are not dangerous, and get them while they are in close range. We did that with our turkey bill last week, although we didn’t get the biggest gobbler. More like a […]

This is the first in a series on Maine outdoor artists, authors, and craftsmen. We are blessed with amazing talent here in our state. Wandering around the very interesting Fly Fishing Expo in Bethel on a Saturday morning a few weeks ago, I was amazed by huge paintings of fish. I spent a lot of […]

Western Maine, from Bethel to Greenville, has always drawn tourists with a good range of lodging, restaurants, and outdoor activities from hunting and fishing to skiing and snowmobiling. But from the get-go, we Mainers have had a love-hate relationship with people from away, whether they were here for the summer or just a week of […]

Bats and bugs took over the second floor of the Cross Building at the State Capitol today. In one room, the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee tackled a bill to list the Northern long-eared bat and other species as endangered or threatened, while in another room, the Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Committee debated responses to […]

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George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters.
Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014.
In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.